


Counting Freckles Like Stars

by biird_s



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Cuddles, Fluff, Kissing, M/M, dave has freckles, john likes freckles, sorta slow build
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-31
Updated: 2013-08-31
Packaged: 2017-12-25 04:34:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/948680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/biird_s/pseuds/biird_s
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John noticed a lot of things about Dave. The planes of his cheeks, the curve of his jaw, his lips... He thought he noticed everything about his face, but then he got struck by surprise. Who knew Dave had freckles?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Fleeting glances were all that John ever allowed himself. Dave wouldn't notice them. He was positive that he wouldn't. Though, even with small looks, he noticed things about him. Little things from being around him so much. He noticed the flat planes of his face, the curve of his jaw, and how his lips framed his mouth just so slightly with the right amount of thick and thin. His light blond hair fell into his eyes sometimes he always tucked it behind his right ear. Always the right. John saw how his lips quivered as small smiles leaked across his expression. Sometimes his eyes would peak over his shades, but John always acted like he hadn't seen a thing. His irises were such a brilliant hue of red; he wasn't about to mess up the opportunity of seeing them.

But, he was obviously diving into the deep end of the general like/dislike pool. The "like" end was becoming deeper and deeper as he thought more about him. By the time the winter rolled around that year, he knew he was way in over his head. Obviously. Who couldn't resist _the_ Dave Strider? He would go on to say that he was perfect, but he didn't want to brag about his ~~possible boyfriend~~ best friend. No, bragging didn't seem right. To put it simply, Dave was perfection in John's eyes. Absolute perfection.

It was only then that he noticed something he hadn't before. As Dave wasn't looking, probably dozing off on the couch beside him, he was watching his expressions. They'd been playing video games together that day; well night, considering the time was 6:00 in the morning and the sun was coming up. It didn't surprise him that Dave was falling asleep. Being up all night did that to you. He was fairly tired himself, but that was really besides the point. His thoughts weren't coming normally. They were kind of muddled from lack of sleep, but he was awake enough to notice things.

In his examination of his face, he noticed something along Dave's cheeks, something that he figured would never show up on the blond's face. There, along his cheekbones, was a light dusting of _freckles_. Yes, freckles. It was as if someone sprinkled that one spice... ginger(!) along his cheeks. They were very pale, but they were definitely freckles. He probably did something to cover them up, he decided. The smaller male scooted closer to his companion. This called for a closer examination, he thought to himself as he leaned up. Dave barely twitched in his slumber, a low whine leaving his lips in the shift in position. Stifling a chuckle, John leaned up and brushed his fingers across his cheek. He pulled his hand back, and low and behold, nothing. Dave's freckles were real and uncovered. 

He felt... special... for knowing this little bit of information about him. Dave never let anyone get close to him after his older brother left so many years ago. John was literally the only person that had been around him for longer than an hour. Not even his sister, Rose, was around him. Then again, she lived with her mom in the city. Being that close to him, it made him feel special to Dave. Yes, he agreed with himself, he was certainly going into the deep end of liking him. He was swan diving into it and he couldn't think of anything but sinking to the bottom and falling headlong in love with him. Cliché as it sounded, he really didn't mind the prospect. Nope, he didn't care at all, he decided as he curled into the warmth of his best friend beside. He loved him.

\--

He woke up around noon, he guessed. The sun wasn't just peeking into the window now, it was intruding into the house; breaking through the windows and stealing any take that night had gripped in its embrace. A soft groan came from above him and John shuddered and quickly shut his eyes. He wanted to retaliate against the idea of waking up. He was still tired and whatever he was up against was warm.  
"Eggs, why are you cuddlin' me?" came a heavily accented voice from above him. John's eyes snapped open on hearing the voice. _Shit_! He'd fell asleep on Dave! He jolted upright, a very faint blush creeping up his neck and onto his cheeks.  
"Oh! Hey, Dave! Sorry, I must have dozed off," he responded and rubbed the side of his neck. How could he have been so stupid? He should have fell asleep on the floor or something! Dumb decisions, Egbert, he groaned internally. Well, he was good at looking indifferent towards this kind of thing, so what did it matter? Dave wouldn't notice.

An eyebrow raised over Dave's shades and his lips pulled into a flat line. John was internally freaking out, but relaxed ever so slightly as his companion's demeanor loosened, lips twitching in amusement.  
"Yeah... Uh.. Mornin'. You feelin' okay, dude?" he inquired, a playful chuckling dancing over his words.  
"Oh.. Yeah, yeah," John mumbled in response and gave a small sheepish laugh. It was good that he didn't think anything of it. Well, he didn't seem to by the way he laughed. He seemed amused more than anything. Good, he didn't need him knowing he did it on purpose. Better to play up the oblivious act today, he decided. No way in hell was he going to do anything stupid. Well... that was until he re-noticed Dave's freckles again. Oh, boy, here we go.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is a tad shorter, but thanks for the short wait! Here's part two!

John was tense. Oh, god, he was tense. Dave didn't notice, of course. He had learned how to act rather indifferent around him for the sake of hiding his growing attraction. If Dave _did_ notice, he didn't say anything to him about it. Which John wasn't complaining about one bit. He was frightened of the thought that Dave would piece things together and confront him and possibly even stop associating with him. After all, crushes between best friends didn't work out that often. Well, John thought so anyways. So, he figured, if Dave didn't notice and/or care about his crush, everything would be fine. He'd much rather suffer in silence. As bad as that sounds.

Those freckles were going to kill him one day. He stood there watching his face as he cooked breakfast (well, lunch) for the two of them. He was so focused on his expressions that when his lips moved, he didn't pay one iota of attention towards the words he was saying. His full attention were on the way his face moved with his words and how he smiled and every little freckle that he could see. It was only when Dave turned and stared at him that he blushed and realized he'd been staring.  
"Did you hear anything that I was saying?" Dave asked, mocking an irritated tone. His lips twitched into a small smile as he spoke, throwing off his agitated tone.  
"Uh... No.. Sorry," John responded slowly, his tongue darting out to wet his bottom lip in nervousness.  
"I understand you're eye-ballin' me, Egbert. But, when I talk, answer me," he snorted teasingly before going back to what he was doing. John thought he was going to die.

It only got worse after they ate. They'd had sandwiches because Dave had no knowledge of anything else to make and because it was easy. John forced himself to go back to his 'only glances' rule, but he still managed to notice those damned freckles on his face. He didn't want to say anything about them. Not yet. Even though he actually really did want to. He wanted to lean over and run his hands across his cheeks ~~and maybe even kiss him~~. But, the only bad thing about this was that he didn't exactly know how to go about it. John was, to put it simply, a hopeless romantic. He had no idea how to even get the ideas into Dave's head nor did he know how to imply his affections in any way. Well, maybe Dave caught on. He wasn't an idiot. He was probably smarter than John himself. Well, John wasn't entirely smart either, but that's besides the point. The point was that he was hopeless when it came to Dave.

He hadn't noticed, but he'd leaned in and reached up to his cheek. John wasn't entirely registering what he was doing until his fingers brushed over his face, palm resting against his skin. Dave noticed, though. He flinched in response and his eyebrows raised as he looked at John. His eyes were obviously wide behind his shades, his lips pulled into a thin line.  
"Dude, why are you touching me?" he asked, his voice pitched up ever so slightly. John would have normally pulled away, but he was certain that Dave would be fine with his answer. Though, he was terrified of telling him anything beyond that.  
"You have freckles. I just noticed," he responded smoothly, blue eyes searching his shades for any hint of his eyes. Dave responded by freezing up, cheeks tinting a soft red before he huffed gently.  
"Yeah, you got me. Dave Strider has freckles. Gross, right?" he questioned, his voice falling into a grumble. Oh. He didn't like them? That was why he didn't let people around him!  
"No way. They're not gross," he reassured him, chuckling gently as he did so.  
"I really like them," John finished, brushing his thumbs over his cheek bones. 

He was kind of excited to be telling him. To be honest, he didn't think Dave would have gave a shit about it. Freckles were common. John didn't think anything about it, but Dave must have really disliked them. The way he retaliated and all. When he told him he liked them, however, it flustered him horribly. The way his blush accented his freckles was utterly adorable and John was pleased with the results. That was, until Dave asked one question about them.

"Lemme guess. Have you counted them?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final chapter!! This one is pretty cheesy, so watch out for that, ahah. Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed!

John froze up. Counting his freckles? He hadn't thought of it, but it was a little amusing to think someone would do that. He might have been counting. He didn't pay attention if he did.   
"There's... about three hundred," he joked, receiving a laugh, "I'm kidding. I just like them. They look nice on you." Dave's eyebrows furrowed a little bit, his lips pursing before he chuckled softly.  
"Oh? What else do you like?" he asked, giving a flirtatious smile towards his companion. John knew it was just a joke, but he couldn't help but get a tad bit jittery in response. He leaned forward ever so slightly, shifting into an upright position.  
"Well, uh... I like... I like your cheeks," he said smoothly, smiling shyly at the taller blond. Dave began to move a bit closer, his lips pulling into a smirk. He was obviously amused by his response, a small laugh proceeding from his lips.

John was more than tense. His crush was less than six inches away from his face and was asking what he liked about him. Well, who wouldn't be nervous about that? It was terrifying to him, to have him so close and to be learning those things. They were only deep thoughts and he'd never even shown anyone that he'd liked him. The thought that Dave _knew_ scared him. John didn't want him to know. He was anxious that he would confront him about and end up not reciprocating.   
"Anything else?" Dave teased, leaning forward a little bit more.

"Well, um.. I'd have to say that... I like your lips," John said slowly. His cheeks were flushed a gentle red at that point, his eyes on Dave's as he searched his shades for some view of his eyes. Dave snorted in response, scooting closer so that their knees were touching. His hands crawled onto his hips, resting comfortably on the soft curve of his pelvis. His lips were pulled into a smile and his shades slid down ever so slightly to show his fiery red irises. What he said next seriously threw him off.   
"My lips? D'you wanna see what they taste like?" 

Oh. _OH_. John froze up. His whole body screamed for him to lean in and kiss him, but his brain protested in the fear that it was just a joke. A cruel joke to play with him and see if he would do anything. His tongue licked his own bottom lip as he began shaking in nervousness, but also excitement. He wanted to kiss him. He wanted to tell him how much he cared about him and how long he'd been pining for him. He wanted to pull him into his arms and hold him and kiss all over his face. It all clicked and he found himself leaning in until their noses touched. Dave's breath was hot on his lips and it just made his heart pound against his ribs.

"Yeah... I do," he responded, his hands resting on the sides of Dave's neck. His lips trembled and his heart fluttered in anxiety. This was it. It was do or die. Er, kiss or die. His heart was up in his throat and he couldn't help but begin to quiver in paranoia. He squirmed a little bit, and he nearly pulled back until he felt Dave's fingers brushing along his waist reassuringly. Dave didn't move past brushing his lips over the shorter's, humming softly. It seemed like he wanted to take everything slow. Slow like John wanted it. The smaller's lips pressed against his partner's, almost feather light. Dave reciprocated and pulled him closer to deepen their kiss.

He was excited. Way more excited about this kiss than he ever thought he could be. He tasted like orange juice and mint gum, a combination that he never thought would be so good. Well, partly because it was Dave. He didn't know how long they had their lips pushed together, but when he felt Dave pull back, his eyes snapped open. His whole face was dark red, a smile on his face pulling up his lips. Dave gave a small chuckle and leaned in, pressing his lips to his forehead.  
"So, is this gonna happen every time I stare at your freckles?" John questioned as his arms looped around his neck. A soft laugh emanated from the blond's throat and he shrugged, leaning back against the couch.  
"Not if you won't be my boyfriend," he purred in response as John pecked his lips. The words made him shiver and excitement bubbled up in his throat. This was it. Everything he wanted was right in front of him. Now to execute his response perfectly.  
"Well, Mr. Strider. I think I have an opening for the position," he joked, resting against his chest.  
"Then you've got the job, Egbert," came Dave's reply, a laugh falling past his lips.  
"You've got the job."

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you've enjoyed this chapter! Thanks for reading, friends!


End file.
